La Stagione Frankfurt is a German ensemble of
Baroque and
classical music, adept at
historically informed performance.
History
The ensemble La Stagione Frankfurt was founded in 1988 by the German
flautist
The flute is a family of classical music instrument in the woodwind group. Like all woodwinds, flutes are aerophones, meaning they make sound by vibrating a column of air. However, unlike woodwind instruments with reeds, a flute is a reedless ...
and conductor
Michael Schneider[Website of the ensemble La Stagione Frankfurt]
/ref>[Booklet of the CD ''Harpsichord Concertos'' by Georg Anton Benda (CPO 777 088-2). ] around the members of the ensemble Camerata Köln.
Schneider began his career as a solo flutist by winning a prize at the 1978 ARD International Competition in Munich.
[
In 1988, he founded the ensemble La Stagione Frankfurt with which he recorded more than 100 discs in the genres of opera, oratorio and symphony, in the spirit of historically informed interpretation,][ i.e. on period instruments (or copies of period instruments).
The ensemble calls itself "Die Klang-Gourmets", i.e. "The gourmets of sound"..][
The Stagione Frankfurt is supported by the Ministry of Culture and Science of the State of ]Hesse
Hesse (, , ) or Hessia (, ; german: Hessen ), officially the State of Hessen (german: links=no, Land Hessen), is a state in Germany. Its capital city is Wiesbaden, and the largest urban area is Frankfurt. Two other major historic cities are Dar ...
.[
]
Repertoire
An important aspect of the work of the ensemble La Stagione Frankfurt, whose motto is "Unerhörtes hörbar machen" (and "Bringing the undiscovered to your ears"), is the rediscovery of little-known works.[Bach Cantatas]
/ref>[
Michael Schneider and his ensemble are therefore committed to the performance of little-known composers representative of the ( Georg Matthias Monn), the (]Georg Anton Benda
Georg Anton Benda ( cz, Jiří Antonín Benda, italic=no, link=no; 30 June 17226 November 1795) was a composer, violinist and Kapellmeister of the classical period from the Kingdom of Bohemia.
Biography
Born into a family of notable musician ...
), the Mannheim school (Ignaz Holzbauer
Ignaz Jakob Holzbauer (18 September 1711 – 7 April 1783) was an Austrian composer of symphonies, concertos, operas, and chamber music, and a member of the Mannheim school. His aesthetic style is in line with that of the ''Sturm und Drang'' "m ...
), the style galant
In music, galant refers to the style which was fashionable from the 1720s to the 1770s. This movement featured a return to simplicity and immediacy of appeal after the complexity of the late Baroque era. This meant simpler, more song-like melodie ...
(Karl Friedrich Abel
Carl Friedrich Abel (22 December 1723 – 20 June 1787) was a German composer of the Classical period (music), Classical era. He was a renowned player of the viol, viola da gamba, and produced significant compositions for that instrument.
...
) and sentimentalism (Joseph Martin Kraus
Joseph Martin Kraus (20 June 1756 – 15 December 1792), was a German-Swedish composer in the Classical era who was born in Miltenberg am Main, Germany. He moved to Sweden at age 21, and died at the age of 36 in Stockholm. He has been referred ...
), without neglecting Geminiani, Gluck, Hasse, Telemann, Scarlatti or Stradella.
Collaborations
La Stagione works with many soloists such as Claron McFadden
Claron McFadden (born 1961) is an American soprano. McFadden studied voice at the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, New York, finishing her degree in 1984.
She gained international fame when making her Glyndebourne Festival Opera debut in t ...
, Christoph Prégardien and his son Julian, Gotthold Schwarz
Gotthold Schwarz (born 2 May 1952 in Zwickau) is a German Bass-baritone and conductor. Based in Leipzig, he started as a member of the Thomanerchor and has conducted the Gewandhausorchester. Between 2016 and 2021, he was the 17th Thomaskantor af ...
, Simone Kermes
Simone Kermes (born 17 May 1965, in Leipzig) is a German coloratura soprano, especially known for her virtuoso voice, suited to the opera seria genre of the Baroque and early Classical period.
Career
Kermes has performed at many importa ...
, Nuria Rial, Emma Kirkby
Dame Carolyn Emma Kirkby, (; born 26 February 1949) is an English soprano and early music specialist. She has sung on over 100 recordings.
Education and early career
Kirkby was educated at Hanford School, Sherborne School for Girls in Dorse ...
,[ Barbara Schlick, Sandrine Piau and Klaus Mertens.
]
Critical reception
For the Early Music Review
For the Bach Cantatas website, Michael Schneider's versatility on the one hand, and the musicians' artistic flexibility on the other, allow a convincing and authentic performance of a wide range of works from the baroque to the classical symphonies and the contemporary repertoire.[
]
Recordings
La Stagione Frankfurt has made numerous recordings for the following labels ''cpo'', Cappriccio, Deutsche Harmonia Mundi and Koch-Classics:[
* 1991: ' by Alessandro Scarlatti (Capriccio)
* 1992: ''Paride et Elena'' by Christoph Willibald Gluck, with soprano ]Claron McFadden
Claron McFadden (born 1961) is an American soprano. McFadden studied voice at the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, New York, finishing her degree in 1984.
She gained international fame when making her Glyndebourne Festival Opera debut in t ...
* 1993: ''Symphonies op.10 '' by Karl Friedrich Abel
Carl Friedrich Abel (22 December 1723 – 20 June 1787) was a German composer of the Classical period (music), Classical era. He was a renowned player of the viol, viola da gamba, and produced significant compositions for that instrument.
...
* 1993: ''4 Flute concertos'' by Karl Friedrich Abel
* 1993: ''Piramo e Tisbe'' by Johann Adolph Hasse
Johann Adolph Hasse (baptised 25 March 1699 – 16 December 1783) was an 18th-century German composer, singer and teacher of music. Immensely popular in his time, Hasse was best known for his prolific operatic output, though he also composed a co ...
, with soprano Barbara Schlick
* 1995: ''Günther von Schwarzburg'' by Ignaz Holzbauer
Ignaz Jakob Holzbauer (18 September 1711 – 7 April 1783) was an Austrian composer of symphonies, concertos, operas, and chamber music, and a member of the Mannheim school. His aesthetic style is in line with that of the ''Sturm und Drang'' "m ...
* 1996: ''Concerti'' by Georg Matthias Monn, with cellist Rainer Zipperling, harpsichordist
A harpsichordist is a person who plays the harpsichord. Harpsichordists may play as soloists, as accompanists, as chamber musicians, or as members of an orchestra, or some combination of these roles. Solo harpsichordists may play unaccompanied son ...
Sabine Bauer and violinist Mary Utiger
* 1996: ''9 Symphonies'' by Franz Beck
* 2001: ''Stabat Mater'' by Franz Beck, with Sandrine Piau, Klaus Mertens and the Vokalensemble of the SWR
* 2003: ''Klavierkonzerte op.11 Nr.1-6'', concertos for harpsichord and fortepiano by Karl Friedrich Abel, with Sabine Bauer
* 2004: ''Harpsichord Concertos'' by Jiří Antonín Benda
Georg Anton Benda ( cz, Jiří Antonín Benda, italic=no, link=no; 30 June 17226 November 1795) was a composer, violinist and Kapellmeister of the Classical period (music), classical period from the Kingdom of Bohemia.
Biography
Born into a Bend ...
(Georg Anton Benda), with Sabine Bauer
* 2008: ''Miserere / Requiem / Stella coeli'' by Joseph Martin Kraus
Joseph Martin Kraus (20 June 1756 – 15 December 1792), was a German-Swedish composer in the Classical era who was born in Miltenberg am Main, Germany. He moved to Sweden at age 21, and died at the age of 36 in Stockholm. He has been referred ...
with the Deutscher Kammerchor.
References
External links
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Stagione Frankfurt
Baroque music groups
German classical music groups
Music in Frankfurt